Hey guys! Not a long AN this chapter, remember to review or pm me if you have any questions. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 3: The C Word

Emma knocked on the door of Dr. Archie Hopper's office and opened it to see a cosy room with large, comfy sofas. Archie was sitting in a chair reading a newspaper and looked up at her arrival.

"Hey," she greeted him.

"Emma Swan," he said as he stood up to meet her. "I was just, uh, reading about you." Emma glanced at the paper he was holding with the front page a story of her crashing into the sign. Great, just what everyone wants to hear when they're supposed to be making an impression as a responsible adult. "Let me guess, you're here for help with a little post-traumatic stress?" he chuckled, setting his paper down. "That diagnosis was free, by the way."

Emma laughed to be polite. "No, I'm here about Henry."

"I'm sorry," he said uncomfortably. "I – I really shouldn't…"

"I know, I'm sorry," Emma said, feeling bad for putting the guy in such an awkward position. "I just… just tell me something. This fairy tale obsession, what is causing it? I mean he thinks everyone is a character in his book. That's… crazy," Emma said for lack of a better word.

"I – I hope you don't talk that way in front of him," Archie said hesitantly. "The word 'crazy' is, um, quite damaging."

Emma instantly felt guilty for even thinking it.

"These stories – they're his language," the doctor explained. "He has no idea how to express complex emotions so he's translating them as best he can, this is how he communicates. He's using the book to help deal with his problems."

The poor kid shouldn't even have any problems. "But he got the book a month ago. Has he been seeing you longer than that?" Emma asked.

"Um – yes, he has," Archie admitted.

"So, it's Regina, isn't it?" Emma asked, becoming more furious with the woman the more she learned about Henry.

"Uh – his mother is a very complicated woman," he said clumsily. Yeah, I'll bet she is. "Over the years her attempts to try and bring Henry closer have only backfired." Archie moved away to a shelf and pulled out a file. "Why don't you take a look at the file, um, see what I mean."

"Why are you doing this?" Emma asked, becoming suspicious at the sudden change of heart of the shrink.

"Well, he talks about you a lot. You're... very important to him," he replied. Emma's heart swelled.

"Thank you," she said sincerely.

"Just, uh, see that I get it back, okay?" he said as he opened the door for Emma. She smiled at him and turned to leave. "Miss Swan," he said, stopping Emma in her tracks. "Just for the sake of the boy, be careful how you handle his… belief system. To destroy his imagination would be… would be devastating."

Emma gave a quick nod to him before she departed his office, leaving Dr. Hopper alone. He sat down at his desk and picked up his phone to make a call.

"You were right," he said when Regina answered the phone. "She was just here."

"Did she take the file?" the Mayor asked.

"Yes. H-how did you know she was gonna come here?" Archie questioned.

"Because I'm the one who gave her the idea," Regina said, her malicious smile audible in her voice before she put the phone down.

Archie ran a hand over his face and patted the top of Pongo's head. Whatever he had gotten himself into, his conscience was telling him that it was a big mistake.

Killian let out a sigh and finally put his pen down. For a small town where hardly any crime takes place, they really did have a lot of paperwork. He leaned back in his chair and placed his feet up on his desk, crossing one over the other. There was no denying it; Killian Jones was bored. There was only one thing for it. He reached for a scrap bit of paper, crumpled it up into a tight ball, and lobbed it off the top of Graham's head. The sheriff looked up at his deputy, who just grinned over at him innocently.

"Grow up, Jones," he muttered, rolling his eyes at him and returning to his hunched position over his desk.

"Oh, c'mon mate, we both know that you've finished your paperwork for the rest of the week, unless someone gets brutally murdered which is highly unlikely in this town," Killian said.

"You don't know that, we might have a brutal murder," Graham said as a pathetic excuse.

"Well, I know that if we don't liven the atmosphere up in here a bit we'll definitely have one, because I am about to snap with how bored I am," Killian whined dramatically.

"Alright, fine," Graham said, putting his pen down and folding his hands in front of him on his desk. "What do you wanna do?"

"How about we talk about what's gotten you in such a pissed mood?" Killian challenged, raising an eyebrow at his friend. "And don't try to pretend you're not – we live together, Humbert, I can read you like an open book," cutting Graham's protests off.

Graham seemed to contemplate whether he should say what he was about to. "Look," he said after a moment. "There's something I need to tell you – "

"Is it about you and Regina? Because that ship sailed a long time ago. That is now just a distant speck on the horizon," Killian interrupted.

Graham's mouth opened and close like a goldfish while he was trying to figure out what to say, which amused Killian to no end. "How did you know about that?" he decided on, eventually.

"Like I said – open book, mate," Killian replied with a wink. He and Graham looked at each other and they both started laughing. A weight seemed to have been lifted off Graham's shoulders now that he knew that his best friend knew about him and Regina.

"Alright, well, it's been going on for a while now…" he began.

"But?" Killian prompted.

"But I don't feel anything, Kil. And I don't just mean because we're not really a serious thing, I mean I feel nothing at all. Is that normal?"

"Woah, what's brought all this heavy psycho-analysis on?" Killian laughed uneasily. Graham was usually so transparent, so black and white. He knew what he wanted in life and always had done, so what was causing all of this doubt? The same thing that's causing all of yours, a small voice said in the back of Killian's mind that he chose to ignore as best he could.

"You know what, you're probably right," Graham laughed unsurely. "I'm probably just making something out of nothing."

"Graham, mate, if you're really not that bothered about her, then why are you still with her at all? I mean, it's no secret that she's hardly the easiest person to get along with – you could have definitely picked someone better to fool around with," Killian said, ignoring Graham's pointed look. "But as much of a bitch as she is, it isn't fair on her either if you feel bugger all about her."

Graham looked at his desk and thought about what Killian had said. Maybe… no, what was he thinking. He had been sleeping with Regina for as long as he could remember, things with Regina were safe, normal. Both men were brought out of their thoughts by the phone ringing.

"Well, there's that brutal murder we were so desperately hoping for," Killian said with a smile towards the sheriff. "Tell you what, you get the call, I'll get some lunch from Granny's, grilled cheese okay for you?" Killian asked, standing up and shrugging his black leather jacket on. He grabbed his wallet and he keys off his desk and headed towards the door, shouting back at Graham, "I might be a bit late back since it's rush hour."

Graham waved him off and then picked up the phone that was still ringing. "Sheriff's station," he answered. "Hello, Dr. Hopper, what can I do for you today?"

Emma answered her door to see Sheriff Graham standing on the other side. "Hey there," she answered. "If you're concerned about the 'Do Not Disturb' signs, don't worry; I've left them alone," she said, continuing his earlier joke. However, it failed to make him smile, which began to worry Emma.

"Actually, I'm here about Dr. Archibald Hopper," Graham said. Alarm bells! Red flag! Sirens! "He mentioned that you got into a bit of a row with him earlier?"

"No," Emma said, narrowing her eyes at the recognition of her being framed.

"I'm shocked, too, given your shy, delicate sensibilities," Graham said sarcastically, causing Emma to narrow her eyes. "He says you demanded to see Henry's files and when he refused you came back and stole them."

"He gave them to me!" Emma said defensively.

"Alas, he's telling a different tale. May I check your room, or must I get a search warrant?" Graham asked.

Emma sighed, knowing it was futile to put up a fight. She opened her door and gestured animatedly to all of the notes lying on her bed. "This what you're looking for?" she asked facetiously.

"Well, you're very accommodating," Graham complimented picking up a sheet of paper. "But, I'm afraid, Miss Swan, you're under arrest. Again." He reached for her hands as he began to cuff her.

"You know I'm being set up, don't you?" Emma said to him.

"And, whom, may I ask is setting you up?" Graham replied.

You know exactly who, you just don't want to say, the both thought.

"You know the shrink is lying, right?" Emma said, while blinking dots away from her vision after having her mug shot taken.

"To the right, please," Graham instructed. "Why would he lie?"

"The Mayor put him up to this, she's gotta have something on him. He's terrified of her, like everyone else in this town," she said exasperatedly. Where was Killian in all of this? Surely he would know that Emma was telling truth, wouldn't he? It seemed he knew better than most people of what Regina was capable of. She didn't know what she would do if he didn't believe her… because then she wouldn't get out this situation, of course. That was the only reason. Though she had to admit, it would sting a bit if he didn't believe her.

"To the left. Regina may be a touch intimidating but I don't think she'd go as far as a frame-job," Graham said, though Emma's superpower flared slightly, as though Graham had said that to reassure himself more than anything else.

"How far would she go? What does she have her hands in?" Emma pushed him.

"Well, she'd the Mayor, she has her hands in everything," he said evasively.

"Including the police force?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow. Graham gave her a pointed look but was interrupted before he could say anything.

"Well, that took longer than expected…" Killian said, trailing off when he came round the corner and saw Emma. "What the bloody hell's going on here?" he asked Graham.

"Dr. Hopper called, said that Miss Swan had stolen Henry's file."

"Did you?" he asked Emma.

"Of course not, he gave them to me, I was framed!" Emma snapped at him.

"Hm, I wonder who by," Killian said sarcastically, shooting a look at Graham. Emma felt as though a weight had been lifted off her chest; Killian believed her!

"Oh, not you, too, Killian," Graham said.

"We both know that she is capable of doing something like this, Graham, whether you want to admit it or not," Killian replied, reaching for the key off the table. He took Emma's hands in his as he unlocked her cuffs, and looked up into her eyes for a split second before he tore his gaze away to put the cuffs in a draw.

Emma decided not to dwell on how he had just taken her word and believed her without hesitation, or how tenderly he held her hands in his when he was unlocking her cuffs, or how crystal clear his blue eyes were... Hold on a minute there, Swan, you need to stop thinking like that right now, Emma screamed at herself. Killian certainly was striking but so was Graham for that matter, so why was she so focused on Killian? Thankfully, Henry burst into the station with Mary Margaret behind him before she could answer that question.

"Hey!" Henry said, as he came charging round the corner.

"Henry! Henry, what are you doing here?" Graham asked.

"His mother told him what happened," Mary Margaret answered.

"Of course she did," Killian said sardonically, looking at Graham as if to prove a point.

"Henry, I don't know what she said –," Emma began.

"You're a genius!" Henry stated brightly.

"What?" Emma asked. Of all the things she had been expecting Henry to say, that was not one of them.

"I know what you were up to," Henry said. "You were gathering intel, for Operation Cobra," he elaborated. "And Killian, you were helping by making the Evil Queen think that she still had the upper hand by arresting Emma," Henry addressed him, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost," Graham said, confused, causing Killian to chuckle slightly.

"It's need to know, Sheriff, and all you need to know is that Miss Blanchard's gonna bail her out."

"You are?" Emma and Killian said together, causing them to look at one another. "Why?" Emma asked.

"I – uh – trust you," she said, rushing her words out. Emma was touched at the woman's faithfulness, considering she had only known her for just over a day.

"Well, since I'm already uncuffed I guess I'll be on my way, I have something to do," Emma said with a wicked glint in her eye that was missed by everyone except Killian, who smirked as he wondered what on Earth she was going to do. Whatever it was, he was sure it wasn't going to sit well with Regina, which was probably why he silently encouraged her to do it all the more.

Regina turned her head to the strange buzzing sound that was coming from outside her window and she was surprised her eyes didn't fall out of her skull with how wide they grew at the sight she was greeted with. She stormed out of her office and into her garden, absolutely furious.

"What the hell are you doing?" she raged at Emma, who was holding a chainsaw that had just sliced through a branch of her beloved apple tree.

"Picking apples," she said nonchalantly.

"You're out of your mind!" Regina said dangerously.

"No, you are if you think a shoddy frame job's enough to scare me off," Emma retorted, squaring up to Regina. "If you come after me one more time, I'm coming back for the rest of this tree. Because, sister, you have no idea what I'm capable of," she threatened, echoing Regina's earlier words before she stalked off leaving a fuming Regina behind her.

"Your move."

Killian had just finished his shift and was heading home when he got a call from Graham saying that they'd had an emergency call from the Mayor and that he needed him to come back. Though Killian was pretty sure Graham could handle whatever the Mayor was overreacting about on his own, he had the feeling that he didn't exactly want to be around her on his own, what with his earlier confession. And he had a feeling that whatever Regina had phoned in about just happened to walk around the corner, wearing a white vest and a smug smirk on her face that was no doubt aided by the chainsaw she was carrying on her shoulder.

"Do I even want to ask?" Killian laughed as she stopped in front of him.

"Nope," Emma replied, popping the 'p'.

"Well, fair warning that your good mood may not last; Regina's just called the sheriff's station," Killian told her.

"Don't care, she can go to hell," Emma said, her smirk not budging off her face.

"Remember when you said Regina was psychotic?" Killian asked her. "I'm really starting to understand the phrase 'takes one to know one'," he joked, taking in just how bizarre the sight of that chainsaw was.

"Watch it, Jones. Let's not forget who's holding the chainsaw here," Emma said in mock annoyance. They both started laughing.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Swan," Killian said, his tone turning serious as he stood closer to her. "I probably don't need to remind you what Regina is capable of. Just… be careful, love, she's a lot more dangerous than she lets on," he said, tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear as his eyes bore into hers.

Emma's heart lifted at the concern in his words, a small smile threatening to tug at the corners of her lips. But she couldn't give into those kind of feelings, she was too damaged. It was different when it was just a bit of casual flirting, but she would have to be careful not to let her walls down while she was around Killian. Remember, you're here for Henry. You're already breaking your 'don't get attached' rule for him, don't make it a double whammy, Emma. She put her hand on his chest and gently pushed him back, laughing lightly and her smile remaining intact to make it seem like she wasn't internally panicking. "Thanks, but I probably don't need to remind you that I can handle myself."

Emma readjusted the chainsaw on her shoulder and stepped around the deputy.

"What if I told you that you didn't have to take her on alone?" Killian said as she walked away from him.

Emma turned back to look at him and smiled sadly. "Then I would tell you that I've only ever done anything alone; I'm used to it."

And before Killian could say anything else, Emma quickened her pace and walked away from him as fast as she could without making it look like she was running away.

A couple of hours later, Emma was coming out of the diner when she had finished her lasagne after she had given Granny back her chainsaw (who knew why that woman had a chainsaw). Killian was right, her good mood had been ruined, but not by Regina. It was herself. Dammit, she really liked Killian; he seemed like a decent guy and could be a good friend. She couldn't let whatever feelings she thought she had get in the way of that, just because he was the first guy, hell, the first person,since Neal to treat her that way. She just wasn't used to having people be concerned about her, that's all. Emma knew that she had to tone her defensive streak down a bit, but it was freaking hard after years of closing herself off. She walked over to her car, thoughts of what she should do about Killian swimming in her head, only to find that it had a boot placed on it. Brilliant, just great. Her phone started ringing, and she pulled it out angrily, not in the mood to talk to whoever was on the other end, and she had a good idea of exactly who it was.

"What?" she answered.

"Miss Swan," came Regina's snarky voice on the end of the line. "I'd be happy to continue demonstrating my power, but in my writing I'm guessing your resolve to stay is only growing?"

"You have no idea," Emma said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she stared at her car.

"Well, then. I think it's time we made peace. Why don't you drive over to my office?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice, causing Emma to slam her car door in annoyance. "Or walk – whatever suits you," Regina added, appearing to have heard it. Suddenly, the urge became too strong; Emma really did roll her eyes.

Emma had her knees tucked up to her chest with her feet on the sofa, just to piss Regina off.

"I'd like to start by apologising, Miss Swan," Regina said, with a small smile.

"What?" Emma said, not even bothering to hide her disbelief.

"I just have to accept the reality that you want to be here," Regina said, shrugging slightly.

"That's right, I do."

"And that you're here to take my son from me," Regina said from out of nowhere.

"Okay, let's be clear: I have no intention of taking him from anyone," Emma said, frowning at her.

"Well then, what are you doing here?" Regina asked. Good question.

"I know I'm not a mother – that's pretty self-evident – but I did have him, and I can't help it – he got in my head and I want to make sure he's okay. The more you try to push me out, the more I wanna be here, especially after seeing how…" Depressed? Lonely? Wanting to get away from his psycho adoptive mother? "… troubled he is," Emma finished, deciding that if she was gonna make peace with the woman, bringing up any of that would not help matters.

"You think he's troubled?" Regina said curiously. Great, just gonna have to keep rolling with this one now, Emma.

"Well, he's in therapy," Emma began. "And I only got through a couple pages of his shrink's notes before you had me arrested. But putting all that aside – he thinks everyone in this town is a fairy tale character."

"And you don't?"

"How can I? The poor kid can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality and it's only getting worse. It's crazy," she said, but before she could reprimand herself for using the c-word Henry's voice came from the doorway behind her.

"You think I'm crazy?" he asked in a hurt voice.

Emma's stomach sunk when she realised that he had heard. "Henry…" she tried to say, but he ran off before she got a chance. Her hurt for Henry and anger towards herself quickly turned into anger towards Regina, realising that she had been set up. "How long was he there?" she asked, still facing the door that Henry had run out of, not trusting herself to look at Regina.

"Long enough," she responded.

"You knew he would be here," Emma stated, deciding to risk it and turned to face Regina, the twisted and malicious smile she was wearing testing all of Emma's self-control not to wipe it off her face.

"Did I know that my son comes to my office every Thursday at precisely five P.M. so I can take him for dinner before his therapy session? Of course I did. I'm his mother," she said, her words like a punch in the gut for Emma. "Your move," she repeated, with a sick smirk. That did it for Emma.

"You have no soul. How in the hell did you get like this?" But Emma didn't stick around to hear the answer; she needed to find Henry.

Killian was finally heading home. After being called to Regina's office and seeing that one of the branches of her apple tree had been sawn clean off, it had been a somewhat eventful encounter, mainly because he was having a hard time stifling his laughter even as Regina threatened his job. Emma Swan, she was a bloody hard lass to figure out. Especially when she had shut him out earlier, been so adamant that she worked alone, yet her eyes had betrayed her true feelings. She hated being alone, and Killian could see that. He didn't know what had happened to her, but he knew that he had to figure her out one way or another; the bloody woman was driving him round the bend and he'd known her for less than two days! He stopped in his tracks when she saw Henry sitting in his castle with his book unopened in his lap. Something wasn't right.

"You alright, lad?" Killian asked him when he got a bit closer. Henry looked up and Killian saw that he had been crying, instantly feeling the need to comfort the boy. "Henry, what's wrong?" he asked, placing both his hands on Henry's shoulders and sinking down to his eye level so he was forced to look at him.

"It's my mom," Henry sniffed.

"Regina?" Killian said, his blood boiling.

"No, Emma," Henry said. Killian felt his heart sink. "She doesn't believe in me, she thinks I'm crazy."

Disappointment and a trace of anger flared up inside Killian briefly before he realised that there must be a better explanation that this. If he knew one thing, it was the last thing Emma would want to do would be to hurt Henry. "Are you sure about that, Henry?"

He nodded. "I heard her saying it to the Evil Queen when I went round to her office."

Ah, there it was. So it was Regina – Killian had no doubt that she had planned this. He shoved his rage to one side, however, deciding he would deal with it later. Right now, Henry needed him.

"Henry, listen to me. How much of their conversation did you hear?"

"Just that Emma was saying how I think everyone's a fairy tale character and that it was crazy," he said.

"Did you hear anything else?" Killian asked him with a raised eyebrow. Henry shook his head as he looked at the ground, already seeing where Killian was going with this. "Well, there you go, then. There could be more to this than meets the eye, Henry. She was talking to the Evil Queen, after all. Tell you what, I'll take you to Granny's for some ice cream and we can discuss all the negative consequences of eavesdropping, shall we?" Killian said, lifting Henry down from the castle and putting an arm around his shoulders.

"I'd rather just have the ice cream, thanks," Henry said with a smirk, causing Killian to chuckle. Looks like I'm not going home yet, after all.

Emma's feet pounded the pavement, completely driven by her fury towards Regina and her need to find Henry. She barely noticed where she was going until she collided with a mass of black leather.

"Easy there, love," Killian said, grabbing hold of her arms to steady her and giving her a pointed look.

"Sorry," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I was just – "

"Looking for Henry, yes, I know," Killian finished for her. "I ran into him earlier, just dropped him off at his session."

Oh God, he's gonna hate me for hurting Henry. He might hate me even more than I hate myself right now!

"Killian, listen, whatever Henry said – "

"I know it's not your fault, Swan," he reassured her.

"Oh," she said, taken aback. "Well, um, good. 'Cause you know I'd never do anything to hurt Henry, right?"

"Of course I do, it's the entire reason you're here," Killian said with an effortless smile. Well, with a smile like that maybe it's not the only reason I'm here…

"Thank you," Emma said. "It's good to know that at least you believe me, maybe you can help bring Henry round, the kid probably hates my guts at the minute," she said hopelessly.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," he said, smirking slightly at her, causing Emma to raise an eyebrow in question. "I may have already spoke in favour of you before I dropped him off," he said with a wink. "I think he knows you didn't really mean what you said, but he's a bloody stubborn lad and wouldn't want to admit to me."

Emma exhaled a small sigh of relief, smiling at Killian to convey her gratitude. He smiled back at her, causing creases to appear around his luminous blue eyes…

"Well, I'd better get to Archie's and speak to Henry before his session finishes," Emma said, tearing her thoughts away from his goddam perfect features. What, perfect features? What on Earth was going on with her?

"Of course," Killian said, one corner of his mouth twisting upward in a sideways grin. "I'll see you later, Swan," he said before he walked away from her.

"Not if I see you first, Jones," Emma said to herself as she watched him walk down the street. Killian Jones was not like other guys, but she had no idea why. And Emma didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Emma walked into Archie's office without even knocking, holding the story book pages in her hand. Archie jumped straight up and walked towards her.

"Miss Swan. Look I can explain. The Mayor forced me – "

"I know, don't worry about it, I get it," Emma interrupted, her main focus on Henry. "Henry, I'm sorry."

"I don't wanna talk to you," he said stubbornly. Just like Killian said.

"Miss Swan, if she knew you were here…" Archie began nervously.

"To hell with her," Emma said determinedly, sitting down in front of Henry. "Henry, there is one simple reason I stayed here – you. I wanted to get to know you."

"You think I'm crazy!" he retorted.

"No, I think the curse is crazy. And it is," Emma sighed. Oh boy, she was just gonna have to come out and say it. "But that doesn't mean that it's not true! It is a lot to ask anyone to believe in, but there are a lot of crazy things in this world. So, what do I know? Maybe it is true."

"But you told my mom – "

"What she needed to hear," Emma interrupted quickly. "What I do know is that if the curse is real, the only way to break it is by tricking the Evil Queen into thinking that we are non-believers. 'Cause that way, she's not on to us. Isn't that what Operation Cobra's all about? Throwing her off the trail?" Emma finished, watching Henry's expression change with every word.

"Brilliant!" he exclaimed, making Emma's heart burst.

"I read the pages, and Henry, you're right – they are dangerous. There is only one way to make sure she never sees them," Emma said, and she took the pages and threw them in the fire. "Now we have the advantage," she said, smiling at him.

"I knew you were here to help me!" Henry said, and he jumped up and wrapped his arms around Emma's middle. She was shocked at his response so it took her a moment to respond to his hug, but once she did it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

"That's right, kid, I am," Emma said, and that's when she knew, even if she wouldn't admit it to herself for months to come, that she would never leave Henry again. "And nothing, not even a curse, is gonna stop that," she promised his before they hugged again.

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